A Lovely Night
by mmcnmb1
Summary: Ochako leans in closer, her cheek nearly resting on Izuku's shoulder. His heart is going a million miles a minute, but at the same time he is documenting every way Ochako's eyes sparkle, glimmering in the night. "I'm glad we got together too." Her lips press against his cheek for a split second, and it's a second too long and too short all at once.


**This is a gift for someone on the deku appreciation server! They wanted some izuchako fluff at the carnival and i figured i may as well post it here. Its a little rushed and sloppy, but enjoy!**

* * *

Izuku takes in a breath, trying his best to calm his nerves as a crowd of people move their way around their little group. Voices and screams fill the air, the combination of stall vendors and ride goers clashing in his ears. A concoction of smells wafts around the carnival, tinted with sugar and grease. There's a familiar pull in his gut that is doing its best to convince him that this was a bad idea and he should head home before something messes up.

It's after sunset though, and the entire carnival _glows._ Every stall and ride encompassed by the soft glow of their individual lights Izuku feels a hand slip into his, with a quiet murmur of "You okay?" and he remembers why he was really here.

His eyes follow the path of their conjoined arms, and he is met with Ochako's smile. "Y-yeah. There are more people here than I expected."

Ochako squeezes his hand, and Izuku relishes the support. If he asked, she would leave in a heartbeat, even when she's been gushing for weeks about how excited she was for this.

"Coming?" Todoroki's voice momentarily breaks off his train of thought. Izuku looks ahead, where he and Iida stand shoulder to shoulder.

"Yep." Izuku smiles, taking the first steps while gently tugging Ochako forwards with him. He can feel her eyes on him, and he turns to give her a softer smile, this one a little less for show. He squeezes her hand, and she sighs, relenting.

Izuku loves the carnival, with all its games and food and rides. He's determined not to let one bad encounter and his general nervousness get the best of him all the time, especially not tonight.

Instead he distracts himself with the warmth of Ochako's hand, and the pride he feels that his face is only just warm and not burning as it usually is when they hold hands in public. Todoroki and Iida walk beside them, Todoroki smiling fondly as Iida rants about the many, many health precautions that come with a carnival setting.

"Wow," Ochako giggles, her breath seeping out of her pink scarf to frost over in the night air. "it almost makes you wonder why they keep it open."

"Money." Todoroki deadpans back, and Izuku feels himself laughing along with Ochako this time. It's just like Todoroki to take everything literally.

"Because it's fun." Izuku finds himself teasing back, his and Ochako's hands swinging slightly.

"…I suppose." Todoroki hums, absentmindedly pulling a strand of white hair out of the collar of his navy turtleneck.

"Despite the many health dangers. The carnival is actually quite fun. We'll do our best to ensure you have a good first visit." Iida grins and its almost infectious. Todoroki looks to Izuku and Ochako, both of them nodding.

"Ah, funnel cake!" Ochako squeaks, pointing to the nearby stand before shoving her way through the crowd, Izuku in tow. Todoroki and Iida follow, although with a little less vigor.

When Ochako stops, she turns to Izuku, grinning from ear to ear. "Me and my family used to split one of these whenever we went to the carnival."

"Me and my mom used to always get strawberries with ours." Izuku notes with a grin. Todoroki and Iida slide up behind them.

"Funnel cakes are extremely unhealthy and would detriment your body immensely if eaten in excess." Iida warns, but Todoroki's eyes are already wide and sparkling, staring at the sugary concoctions with obvious hunger. "…I suppose one would not hurt us significantly."

Izuku smiles at the two of them, Ochako gripping his hand tighter as she laughs at "How whipped Iida was."

And Izuku can definitely understand, standing next to one of the brightest people he's ever met. Watching her smile and laugh as his own heart turns to mush.

Izuku pays for their food, insisting that he was just being polite, since Ochako was the one to convince him to come to the carnival at all. The two of them smile as Todoroki and Iida end up getting into a small quarrel over who would pay for theirs, Todoroki eventually winning out with the comment of, "I'd rather spend my old man's money than anything else."

They find a clear bench, just big enough for the four of them. Izuku takes one edge of the bench while Todoroki takes the other. Izuku sets their cake right in between his and Ochako's lap. Iida does the same with his and Todoroki's, a small cake layered in powdered sugar and coated in chocolate sauce.

Izuku and Ochako's is a little lighter on the powdered sugar, but with significantly more strawberries- Ochako swears one of the ladies making the cakes had been eyeing him.

"Now we have more strawberries." Ochako says, plopping said strawberry in her mouth. Izuku tears off another piece, smiling as the now unfamiliar taste of pure sugar floods his senses.

Under Uraraka's chin, he can see that Iida and Todoroki's cake has travelled solely into Todoroki's lap. He nudges Ochako slightly, and nods his head in their direction. Ochako grins, and leans in to whisper.

"They're so cute together."

"I'm happy they got together."

Ochako leans in closer, her cheek nearly resting on Izuku's shoulder. His heart is going a million miles a minute, but at the same time he is documenting every way Ochako's eyes sparkle, glimmering in the night. "I'm glad we got together too." Her lips press against his cheek for a split second, and it's a second too long and too short all at once. His face is burning a bright red by that point, and he quickly shoves another bite of funnel cake in his mouth to save himself from his flustered stammers.

They spend the next few hours traversing the carnival. Todoroki ends up being surprisingly good at carnival games, leaving Iida with an armful of various stuffed plushies.

"You should keep these. They are your prizes." Iida says, shoving the stuffed animals closer to Todoroki.

"My old man wouldn't let me keep them anyways." Todoroki comments, cheeks a faint red. "Besides, I like giving them to you."

Iida goes speechless, his face freezing as he splutters.

After that Ochako makes it a friendly competition, to see who could win the most stuffed animals. Izuku ends up getting pretty riled up himself, nearly breaking the unfortunate hammer and bell game that they came across. Uraraka conquers the ring toss, although Izuku suspects she used her quirk on that one. Todoroki keeps up his luck streak, fishing up the winning rubber duck. Iida turns out to be the undisputed champion of water races, after about 10 rematches Izuku gives up, Todoroki joining him. Uraraka tries for an 11th time, and nearly beats Iida.

"Ochako," Izuku almost fumbles over the words, he's still not completely used to using their first names in public. "You should probably admit that Iida's going to win."

"Never." Ochako shakes her head, the stubborn crease in her face growing deeper. "I know I can win."

"We'll run out of money though." Izuku points out, and Ochako sighs in the way she always does whenever Izuku is right about something but she won't admit it- like how his limited merchandise All Might blankets were incredibly comfortable.

"Do not worry Uraraka, you have been very successful at almost every other game." Iida tries, Todoroki rigidly patting her on the back.

"But I just want to beat you." Ochako groans, putting her head against the counter as she pouts in Iida's direction.

"We still haven't ridden any rides though." Izuku goes for another approach, smiling as Ochako picks her head up.

"Fine." Ochako drawls. But once she stands she turns back to Iida, pointing a finger. "But don't think that I'll forget this."

"I am sure." Iida says, all of them knowing far too well how good Ochako's memory is- Izuku still has flashbacks to the half hour he spent floating against the roof the classroom after school.

They tackle the rides next, going on everything and anything in their sight. From Tilt-A-Whirl to The Tornado, they manage to mostly make it through.

"I don't like the rides that jerk you around." Todoroki mutters after The Whirlwind, Izuku nodding in agreement.

"It adds to the excitement." Ochako cheers, but puts a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. "Hey, they aren't for everyone though."

Todoroki looks at her for a moment, then nods.

By the end of the night, there's only one ride left. And it's the biggest one in the entire carnival. The Red Riot- a name Kirishima could appreciate- is clearly the largest rollercoaster; only the Tower of Terror stands above it.

Sure, it doesn't corkscrew or anything, but it has its own twists and curves that pull at Izuku's stomach just thinking about it. Fighting against villains was one sort of adrenaline rush, rollercoasters were quite another.

Izuku can't help but grin when Ochako's eyes light up at the sight of it. Part of him does enjoy rollercoasters, and besides, this one isn't _quite_ that bad. He's sure he can handle it, and answers Ochako's question with relative confidence. Todoroki and Iida decide to stay off this one, Iida remarking that he was feeling queasy.

Now it's just Izuku and Ochako. Ochako bounces on the balls of her feet in anticipation as they are seated. Izuku has a smile plastered on his face, one that he is halfway sure Ochako can see through but it's too late to change things now.

"First one to scream gets the other ice cream?" Ochako suggests with an excited whisper as she tightens her scarf.

"Sure." Izuku returns. "Although it's a little cold for ice cream."

Uraraka shrugs, pulling the lap bar down over them. "I'm in that kind of mood."

By the time they reach the peak of the first hill, Izuku is in a cold sweat. They plunge, and the only reason he doesn't scream is because he's too scared to even do that. By the time they go around the curve, his stomach is doing weird things. On the second drop, Ochako finally gives into her excitement and shrieks. The rest of the ride she's laughing maniacally, and Izuku closes his eyes and clings to the sound of it.

When they get off, Izuku's stomach is doing flips inside him and the world won't stop spinning. Ochako looks much less affected, but Izuku thinks he can see a tilt in her step as she walks away from the ride.

"Are you two okay?" Todoroki asks immediately when they get back, eyes scanning the two of them.

"The both of you look slightly ill, Midoriya more so." Iida adds on, guiding both to a spot at the table he and Todoroki had claimed.

"That thing has a heck of a backlash." Ochako says, breathlessly chuckling. My stomach kinda wants to bring the food back up. Izuku groans in agreement, muttering into his arms, "I've never been good with big rollercoasters."

"You should have said something before agreeing to go on it then." Iida jumps up, startling a nearby couple. "Your wellbeing is a primary focus."

"Yeah," Ochako looks at him with concerned, narrow eyes, and Izuku kind of wants to hide under his arms completely. "it's not gonna bother me if you don't want to do anything. Even rollercoasters." She gently elbows his side, smiling softly.

"But riding with you was fun." Izuku says into his arms. Ochako reaches over to rub circles into his back, and Izuku quickly leans into the touch- with only second of being frozen from the sudden contact in the area Kacchan always went after.

"You don't have to always push yourself." Todoroki comments, and Izuku hums in a noncommittal agreement.

As soon as Izuku and Uraraka are good enough to walk, they start to head towards the exit. It's getting late, and there's not much for them to do besides for shop, something they collectively agreed is not an entertaining prospect. Especially considering the veritable horde of stuffed animals they've amassed.

Izuku forfeits the ice cream he had 'won' through Ochako's challenge, his stomach is too upset for more food, and Ochako admits hers feels the same way. He also may or may not almost have a panic attack when someone with a fire quirk sparks a tiny flame in a way that's far too reminiscent of Kacchan. Todoroki and Ochako really help to talk him through it, with Iida being kind enough to make sure nobody bothered them.

"T-thank you guys." Izuku breathes out, feeling his fingers clench and unclench.

Ochako smiles, carefully taking his hand in hers. "No problem Izuku, just know that we're here when you need it."

When they reach the car, all of them are clearly exhausted. Todoroki is starting to lean into Iida's shoulder, drowsily getting closer than completely aware Todoroki ever would have allowed himself to in public. Iida elects himself to drive even though the car is really suited for someone closer to Izuku's mom's height- considering it was her car. Izuku almost tries to protest, since Iida had driven them here as well, but when he blinks the world comes back into focus without him ever realizing it had been out of focus, he decides that putting himself behind the wheel is probably not a good idea.

During the ride back to Izuku's house, Izuku and Ochako somehow end up sprawled over each other in the backseat, using the other as both a pillow and blanket. Todoroki ends up snoozing in the passenger's seat, bangs fluttering with every breath.

When Izuku feels the car stop, he has to force his eyes open, blearily blinking away the sleep. Idly, he presses a kiss to Ochako's bangs before sitting up.

They all pile out of the car- it had already been confirmed that they could sleep at Izuku's house after the carnival- although it takes a while to wake Ochako up to a point where she can walk on her own.

Its only when Izuku reaches his front door he remembers how he hasn't told his mom about him and Ochako yet. Swallowing, he opens the door anyways.

"We're home." Izuku calls out softly, ushering in his friends.

"Izuku," His mom pops out from the living room. "did you guys have fun?"

"Yeah." Izuku says, punctuating his sentence with a yawn. Ochako's hand finds his own, and Izuku threads their fingers together instinctively, leaning against the extra warmth her body provided.

Too late, he realizes his mom his staring at them, slack-jawed. Izuku jumps, his face burning bright red as his gaze switches between Ochako and his mom.

His mom sniffles, and Izuku's own eyes start to tear up. "I'm happy for you two." Addressing all of them now, including Iida with dozing Todoroki on his shoulder, she announces. "Now let's get you all set up for the night."

They all end up sleeping far later than they usually do the next morning, and that's perfectly fine with Izuku.


End file.
